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Enhanced Fertility Support
Karen Hemmings • 17 February 2020
Can Hypnotherapy Help Fertility?
Whether it is taking you time to get pregnant together through natural conception, or you are about to undergo couple or single parent fertility treatment, there are a number of ways that hypnotherapy can help.
Putting on a brave face when a friend has a baby, continuing with work and relationships when feeling depleted of all energy and hope, and trying to be optimistic to create a positive environment in which a baby can grow can be daunting. Infertility can leave both women and men emotionally drained and spiralling in negative thought patterns. Online forums can be supportive, but are filled with people in the same boat, and as empaths, whilst we celebrate the joy of others, it is also natural to pick up on the stress and disappointment too, embedding feelings of hopelessness. It can be physically and mentally draining, and struggling month to month with negative pregnancy tests can consume your life.
When couples or singles are undergoing treatment, the fertility clinics look at the physical factors hindering conception (things such as abnormal ovulation, damaged Fallopian tubes and low sperm count), whereas at The Healing Mind I look at the mind and body connection and discuss and address emotional and lifestyle factors that may be affecting you.
A number of things can hinder fertility and hypnosis is a very effective way of helping people to become optimally fertile. The most common issues by far are stress and anxiety. Stress is extremely detrimental to fertility because it can delay the release of eggs and prevent the implantation of fertilised eggs as the ‘flight or fight’ response channels blood away from the reproductive organs and into the arms and legs to prepare the person to flee or fight. It also has a negative effect on hormones: boosting levels of fertility-inhibiting prolactin and reducing levels of progesterone, which is essential for building and maintaining the uterine lining. In fact an article published in medicalexpress.com evidenced that the chances of conception are reduced by almost a third with elevated levels of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone.
On top of current daily stresses, having difficulty conceiving or undergoing IVF are extremely stressful experiences; often romantic intimacy can become a regimented necessity, putting strains on emotional and physical relationships. Within the Enhanced Fertility programme, I will teach you self-hypnosis and self-nurturing strategies and, if it is right for you, I will also introduce Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) all of which can support you in releasing emotional feelings of guilt and loss.
Whilst people do everything within their power to conceive, with all other pressures associated with infertility, it is also common for men and women to ask for hypnotherapy support in losing weight, to stop smoking, for exercise motivation, or reducing their alcohol or caffeine consumption. Some women also have personal history of trauma, subconsciously creating fear which can be held in the body afecting the system; they subsequently benefit from a hynpnotherapy programme to release this.
If you believe that the mind and body should be well before conceiving, and have neglected the mental toll that infertility has taken on your body, then a course of hypnotherapy could be your answer. The earlier you start, the more beneficial it can be and aiming to schedule between 3 and 6 sessions (programmes tailored to your needs) prior to treatment is recommended. This means that when you try to conceive or before your IVF cycle begins, you will be mentally, as well as physically prepared.
Hypnotherapy sessions can be a sanctuary, reenergising and rebooting your mind, body and soul. Ultimately you will increase strength, resilience and optimism, so whether you are entering into natural conception or IVF, with your practiced hypnotherapy skills by your side, you will be wholly prepared to embrace the experience.
If you would like to book or find out more then please get in touch.
https://www.thehealingmind.co.uk/contact
email: karen@thehealingmind.co.uk
Facebook: @thehealingmind.co.uk
References
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-04-role-cortisol-pregnancy-women-ivf.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-10-evidence-hormone-hair-affect-ivf.html
The Healing Mind provides a range of Counselling and Hypnotherapy services in Gnosall, Stafford, as well as Reiki, Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT) and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).
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